This invention relates in general to a multi-purpose terminal, payroll and work management system and related methods, and more particularly, to a multi-purpose terminal that employees may use after authentication with a bank card and personal identification number (PIN) to check-in and check-out of work, to receive new work instructions or assignments, to review payroll details, to print a payroll stub, to execute financial transactions, to print a receipt of a financial transaction or to receive the results of work quality audits. The invention also relates to systems and methods that utilize such multi-purpose terminals, including deposit of net pay in a bank account associated with each employee""s bankcard so that the pay is immediately accessible by each employee.
Automated teller machines (ATMs) are typically owned by banks or banking networks. They are widely available and are frequently used to dispense cash. A customer inserts or slides a bankcard in the ATM so that a coded account number can be read from the bankcard. Through a financial network, such as Visa(trademark)/Plus(trademark) or Mastercard(trademark)/Cirrus(trademark), the ATM then communicates with the bank that issued the bank card (the issuing bank) to see if the desired cash withdrawal exceeds the current balance in a bank account that is related to the account number. If not, the cash is dispensed and the card owner""s account is debited in the amount of the withdrawal plus any service charge for use of the ATM.
The user of the bankcard is also provided with a personal identification number (PIN) or password that is associated with the account number. The PIN is entered at the request of the ATM prior to authenticating both the account number and the PIN. In the event that the bankcard is lost, the finder will not be able to withdraw funds since he/she lacks the PIN necessary to complete any ATM transaction.
ATMs provide a variety of account transactions. The user may withdraw cash from user""s checking account, savings account or as an advance from a line of credit, such as a credit card account. The user may also transfer funds between accounts, such as from a checking account to a savings account. In some instances, the user may ascertain the balances in accounts associated with the account number. However, the principal use of ATMs continues to be cash withdrawal.
Local currency exchanges compete with banks and the ATMs by providing financial services for their profiled customers. Profiled customers have previously signed a signature card or have otherwise previously confirmed their identity with a local currency exchange, or with a network of such currency exchanges. Currency exchanges tend to operate locally, instead of in nationwide like the banking networks. The currency exchanges compete with banks and ATMs by cashing checks, particularly payroll checks, for its profiled customers. A typical fee for such a transaction is about 1.6 percent of the amount of the payroll check. For higher volume transactions, the income from check cashing can be quite substantial.
The customers of currency exchanges are typically lower-wage local residents who do not have checking or savings accounts at a local bank, and therefore rely on a currency exchange to convert their paychecks into cash. Since they do not have a bank account, they do not have a bankcard and cannot use an ATM. There is therefore a business opportunity for banks to acquire new customers by providing the functions performed by currency exchanges in cashing payroll checks and money orders.
Wire transfer of funds is another function typically performed by one bank to another bank. This function is not normally available at currency exchanges. As a result, those individuals who use currency exchanges for their financial affairs often use a company that specializes in wire transfers, such as Western Union or American Express Company. The fees for providing wire transfer service at these companies are generally around 4 to 6.5 percent, depending upon the amount transferred. For example, a typical current fee for wire transferring a minimum of $200.00 is about $13.00. These fees are graduated upwardly for larger wire transfers; such as to about $200.00 in fees to wire transfer $5,000.00.
Many of the afore-mentioned lower-wage earners send money to their relatives in the United States or abroad. Among the other more significant users of wire transfers are travelers and the parents of college students because immediate access to funds is often desired or needed. Thus, if wire transfers could be accomplished relatively inexpensively, additional customers could be obtained who are likely to also use the other available financial services. This presents yet another business opportunity.
Larger employers usually develop or purchase a payroll system. Often, the payroll system is part of a larger computer system that records many different types of business transactions. These payroll systems are quite complex since they must deal not only with time and attendance, but also with a plethora of potential deductions. Deductions generally include federal income tax, FICA, state income tax, in some instances county, township or city tax, health insurance, dental insurance, contributions to retirement plans, contributions to profitability or stock purchase plans, union dues, alimony and the like. For businesses with employees in more than one state, the complexity is usually compounded by differences in the state and local tax laws.
However, the real inefficiency in payroll systems is in keeping track of the time of hourly employees. Customarily, timesheets are collected, the payroll is processed and payroll checks are cut and distributed to the employees. Payroll is often centralized for employers with more than one location. This means that timesheets are express mailed to where the payroll is processed, such as at the corporate headquarters. The payroll checks must then be issued and express mailed back to all of the employee locations. This process is expensive, cumbersome and time consuming. Thus, payroll cannot practically or economically be done on a daily basis is such systems. Most employers therefore pay their employees once every two weeks, or once a month.
Employee turnover is another significant expense. The payroll database must frequently be updated to add new employees and to delete former employees, including all pertinent employee information. The hiring process to attract and bring in new employees to replace departing employees is particularly expensive.
On the other hand, employers can increase employee loyalty and reduce such payroll and hiring expenses by paying wages more frequently, such as on a weekly basis, or even on a daily basis. Research indicates that lower-wage employees will frequently change jobs for as little as $0.25 per hour increase in wages. This is particularly a problem for employers in labor-intensive industries, such as janitorial services, fast food franchises and the like.
Research also indicates that many employees will actually work for somewhat less compensation than is available in the competitive marketplace if they are paid more frequently. This is because many employees operate from paycheck to paycheck, and some employees have difficulty surviving financially until the next paycheck. A more frequent paycheck is therefore of considerable value to such employees since it reduces the pay cycle. More frequent wage payment also operates as a disincentive for many employees to change employment to a different employer with longer wage payment intervals.
Another problem with prior art payroll systems is fraud resulting from buddy punching. This is where an employee who may be late, leaves early, or will be absent on a particular day has a buddy or friend punch his/her timecard in and/or out. Such fraud remains a significant problem in many labor-intensive industries where large numbers of employees check-in and checkout each workday. Various biometric systems that verify the identity of the person by his or her physical characteristics, such as the retina of the eye or a fingerprint, have been proposed and implemented. However, such biometric systems remain expensive, and some employees are opposed to placing one of their eyes close to a piece of equipment. Furthermore, due to differences in height of different employees and the number of employees checking in or out at any particular time, more than one such biometric system will often be required at each employment location. Lower-wage employees are generally less educated about technology, including biometric devices. Such employees may be paranoid or otherwise uncomfortable about checking in and checking out through biometric devices. The forced use of biometric devices therefore results in many employees voluntarily terminating their employment. Thus, there exists a need to effectively and economically minimize the buddy-punching problem without the expense and intimidation associated with biometric devices.
Many lower-wage employees, such as those that clean commercial buildings and/or private property, perform their work after normal business hours. Thus, if an owner or manager of the property wants to change the work to be performed, he/she has to stay late, leave written instructions, or call the manager of the cleaning services. Even if the employee receives the work changes, the employee may not be able to perform the work because of union rules, the scope of the work services contract or the like. In addition, the desired work change may involve a different type of work that is compensated at a different pay rate. The property manager may have to contact the supervisor of the employee to renegotiate the contract, and then try to contact and inform the employee. These cumbersome and time consuming approaches could be avoided if the employee""s supervisor and/or the property manager had a better way to communicate the new work instructions or assignment to the employee, such as by the employee receiving the instructions or assignment upon checking in to work.
Quality inspectors routinely do inspection of the work performed at the property site. These audits are typically reported by paper or electronically, as by computer or hand-held device. Thus, the inspector usually sends the quality report to a remote location by faxing a paper report or by using a modem to link to a database. The process of sending the report could be made more efficient if the inspector could use the same electronic terminal to send the quality report that the employee uses to check into or out of work.
Even if the employees are paid electronically by deposit to a known bank account number, laws in most jurisdictions require that the employer provide a copy of the payroll stub to the employee that lists the gross pay, the deductions and the net pay. Supervisors, payroll administrators and human relations personnel frequently receive inquiries about the payroll stub, particularly where different job assignments have different pay rates. The ability to print out a detailed payroll stub, such as at the same electronic terminal that the employee uses to check into or out of work, including the different pay rates for the different types of work could highly effective in reducing these time-consuming inquiries.
The present invention includes a multi-purpose terminal, a payroll and work management system and related methods. The terminal and system provide ATM, payroll and work management (APW) functions. Such functions include recording employee attendance and work hours, providing work instructions and assignments to the employees, periodically calculating the payroll and depositing payroll funds into each employee""s account for immediate access by the employees, permitting each employee to review his/her payroll including gross pay, deductions and net pay, printing an employee""s payroll stub, enabling employees to review and execute financial transactions and receiving and displaying the results of work quality audits. Access to the system is permitted after authenticating a bankcard and personal identification number (PIN). Each bankcard is related to a separate bank account and the employer deposits each employee""s net pay in the respective accounts. The employee can then use the bankcard to withdraw cash from any supported ATM station or to pay for transactions at any point of sale (POS) device.
Each employee is provided with a bankcard encoded with a unique identifying account number and a personal identification number (PIN). The bankcard may be either the magnetic stripe type or the smartcard type. One or more APW terminals are located at the employer""s work site to read the account number and to request entry of the user""s PIN. Together, the bankcard and PIN are used as work attendance devices in place of a conventional time card and/or timesheet. The account number and PIN are communicated from the APW terminal to a computer, which may be an array of servers. The servers have the employee names, pay rates, the unique identifying account number for each employee and the PIN for each employee stored in memory. The servers then compare the received account number and PIN with account numbers and PINs previously stored in memory to authenticate the account number and to use the current time as a payroll check-in or checkout time for that employee.
The APW system periodically uses the check-in and checkout times to calculate the payroll, to authorize the transfer of funds sufficient to cover the total amount of the payroll to the bank that issued the bankcards, and directs the bank to credit the bankcards for each employee in the amount of the calculated pay for each employee. The employees may then withdraw the deposited funds from an ATM, use the bank card to pay for purchases or to transfer available funds to another account. The employee may also view his/her payroll information, and print out a payroll stub.
Authorized users may enter work assignments or instructions into the APW system, such as through a dedicated call center or by secured access to the system. Upon authentication of the employee at the APW terminal, the employee is presented with a greeting. If the employee""s work is subject to change, the terminal may display a set of new work assignments or instructions. To the extent that the rate of pay differs for different assignments, a breakdown of the pay for each work assignment may also be displayed. Appropriate incentives may be provided such as increased pay for certain assignments or for overtime work to motivate the employee to accept the assignments. The employee may obtain a print out of the work assignments from the terminal.
A general object of the present invention is to provide a system that offers hourly workers a turnkey financial, payroll and work management solution that is economically beneficial for them as well as for their employers.
Another object of the present invention to provide an electronic payroll system and methods therefor wherein an electronic terminal reads an encoded unique employee account number from a bank card and requests entry of a PIN, both of which are then communicated to a computer for authentication.
Another object or the present invention is to minimize the payroll fraud resulting from buddy punching through the use of bankcards and PINs as authentication devices.
Another object of the present invention is to use the bankcard and PIN as work attendance devices by using the times of authentication as work check-in and work checkout times.
A further object of the present invention is to eliminate the inefficiencies in issuing and distributing payroll checks, to employees by, periodically crediting net pay to a bank account associated with the bank card that is also used to check-in and check-out of work and by enabling the employees to print their paycheck stub at the electronic terminal, or at any supported ATM terminal.
Yet another object of the invention is to enable printing of work assignments at the electronic terminal.
Another object of the invention is to provide a convenient means of uploading work quality audits into the system from the electronic terminal.